Pakistan is fully aware of ground realities of the region and it will continue its role in the war on terror at a pace and manner suitable to the situation, President Asif Ali Zardari said on Wednesday while talking to Stephen J Hadley, senior adviser for international affairs at the United States Institute of Peace, and a former adviser for National Security.
“Having unequalled advantage of being aware of the situation on ground, Pakistan is in a better position and is fully determined to continue fighting militants at a pace and manner that are best suited to the ground realities,” he said. The president reiterated that it was a shared responsibility of the international community to assist Pakistan in fighting militants, as this ‘Frankenstein’ was once created by the international community to defeat the Soviet onslaught.
“We would continue with our struggle at all costs and in all circumstances,” he said. Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said the war against militancy, regional situation and Pakistan-US relations were discussed during the meeting. The president said the war against terror and militant mindset was a long drawn battle, adding that each development in the ongoing struggle brought new challenges and required further collaboration among the allies to deal with emerging situations.
He reminded Hadley that Pakistan had been at the forefront to confront terrorism that threatened both Pakistan and the rest of the world. He said Pakistan remained committed to the war against terror despite limited resources and institutional capacity. Zardari said the Pakistani government from the very beginning had asked the world community to adopt a holistic approach to overcome socio-economic problems, in addition to using military means where necessary.
Talking about the Pakistani economy, he said the country needed support from its allies for power generation, infrastructure development, water management and social and human development to stabilize an economy which was suffering from the terror war and natural calamities.
